Monday, April 2, 2012

Your Rhino

I love it when artists use their talents for the power of good.

South Africa is home to over 80% of the world's remaining wild rhino, and they are trouble. Five years ago only 13 rhinos were poached in the South African veld - last year saw 44 rhinos killed for their horn. They are poached because some believe that there are some medicinal qualities in their horn (which is untrue).

To raise awareness and funds for organizations involved in fighting for the rhinos' survival, South African ceramists Or-gari have created a project called My Rhino. Artists have designed beautiful, and anatomically correct rhinos that you can welcome into your home and proceeds go to these organizations.

If you're in South Africa, you can find out more info on the House & Leisure blog (also where I got these pics), including a telephone number where you can purchase the rhinos.

3 comments:

Oops, Camille, I deleted your comment by mistake (big fingers, small ipad) so I'm reposting it for you - Wait, are those non-rhino figures what I think they are? If so, then every dang part of a rhino is, ahem, scary!

Seriously, what a great project. I've seen similar fundraiser projects done in larger scale sculptures on the street, but I like this idea equally well.